"You said yes when I asked you to go on a date!" Ashton whined as he followed me down the stairs of his own home and into the kitchen.
I had woken up to him screaming at his flat screen TV to only find him playing video games. I had thrown a pillow at him to let him know that I was awake but the only attention I got was a nod of acknowledgement. These video games were seriously stealing people's boyfriends AND girlfriends away.
"That was before you didn't acknowledge that I was awake and ready to have your full attention!" I exclaimed in protest as I found Millicent and Cayden, watching us from the other end of the room.
"Okay, seriously?" Ashton questioned with a frown on his face. "You're going to cancel our date tomorrow because I didn't give you attention five seconds ago?"
I smirked, knowing that I was pissing him off. "Yes."
Ashton opened his mouth to say something but Millicent and Cayden bursted out in laughter as they doubled over, slamming their hands in the countertops. Ashton turned over to his siblings and glared at them. "What's so funny?"
"You guys are acting like an actual couple," Cayden commented, wiping a stray tear.
I poked my tongue out at him. "If he wants me as his girlfriend, I'm going to act like a girlfriend."
Ashton turned his pleading eyes to his sister. "Millie, please help me out here. Is there a double meaning behind this?"
She shook her head in amusement. "Figure it out, brother."
Ashton pouted his lips before pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't give you attention when you woke up."
I almost chuckled, finding his act almost adorable. "I was kidding, my love."
My love. Those words had completely slipped out of my lips. I mentally smacked myself on my head.
Ashton pulled back and stared at me with wide eyes, excitement dancing in them as I blushed at what I had just said. He took a step back from me with his head down as I watched in confusion. He made his way towards his brother who also watched him in confusion and before the three of us knew it, Ashton began to throw punches at Cayden's biceps, whooping with a big grin on his face.
"Did you hear that?" Ashton exclaimed in excitement.
I couldn't help but stare in awe.
"You look ridiculous," Cayden pointed out with a bright smile that met his eyes. "I'm glad you're happy, Ash. She would've wanted this for you."
I knew who they were referring to.
Kahlilah.
The light atmosphere seemed to cease and the heavy one began to settle in as I watched Cayden's and Ashton's face transform into a blank expression, Millicent clearing her throat. I frowned and turned my head to see Ashton's mother walking inside the kitchen, a blank expression on her face as she eyed me down.
"Ah, Miss Steele," she said with a small nod of acknowledgement. "I see you're here again."
I offered a small smile. A very small one. "You're looking well, today." I wasn't lying.
Ashton's mother shrugged before offering a kiss on Millicent's cheek as she strolled to the fridge. I felt Ashton stiffen beside me, as if not knowing what to do and if a pin had dropped right now, it would've been louder than anything else. As Ashton's mother walked away with a bottle of orange juice in her hand, I felt Ashton sigh in relief.
"I don't think she likes me very much," I pointed out as Cayden and Millicent offered me a kind smile.
"She does but she just doesn't know how to express it," Millicent responded as she bit into her toast.
I raised an eyebrow. "Nope, she certainly does not like me."
"When Kahlilah died, our mom had gone through a really tough time and I think in the process, stopped showing her emotions to everyone but Millicent," Cayden whispered, his voice even lower when he mentioned his dead sister's name.
"What do you guys plan on doing for the rest of the day?" Millicent asked with a small smile, her blue eyes distant as she stared at Ashton and I.
Ashton shrugged, placing an arm around me. "Sex."
I elbowed his stomach, earning a groan in return from Ashton and a few chuckles from Millicent and Cayden. I raised an eyebrow at Cayden who would usually bark out in laughter but today, he seemed unusual, like he wasn't himself. Cayden must've noticed because he gave me a nonchalant shrug and a small smile before whispering in Millicent's ear before walking out of the kitchen without so much as a bye.
"What's up with him?" Ashton asked with a huff as he used his free hand to rub his stomach.
Millicent shrugged. "Dad's forcing him to take the CEO position."
Ashton exhaled slowly. "What about pursuing his teaching career?"
I choked on my spit. "Cayden wants to be a teacher?"
I couldn't imagine Cayden being a teacher or being around children, as a matter of fact. And yet, his dream was to pursue a teaching career that was so different from owning a company. I glanced over at Millicent who stared out the window with sad eyes before I looked up at Ashton who seemed to be his own thoughts.
"So, if Cayden doesn't want it, who would it go to?" I asked, trying to pull them from their own fantasies.
Ashton blinked at me. "Well, it'd go to Millie and if she doesn't want it then it'd go down to me."
"Do you want to be the CEO?" I dared to ask Ashton who narrowed his eyebrows in on me.
He simply sighed. "I wouldn't mind the position and it is our family's inheritance but I don't want to turn into my father. If I did, I'd despise myself."
I raised an eyebrow. "How would you know if you were going to turn into your father? You are both different people with different mindsets and different work strategies. Who said you have to completely follow his path?"
Ashton blinked at me again as if he was contemplating inside his head. A small smile touched his lips as he bent down before giving me a wholesome kiss that made my heart flutter and my stomach do flips. "You're smart, you know that?"
I flipped my hair behind my shoulders and winked. "Of course, I am a Steele."
Millicent rolled her eyes and chuckled. "And, what of you? What do you want to do when you graduate?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, yet."
Millicent nodded in understanding before her eyes moved past me as if someone was standing behind me. I frowned and looked behind my shoulder to see an older-looking man with blonde, dishevelled hair, his intense blue eyes focused on Ashton's arms around my shoulders and I knew that when he was younger, he had once been an attractive male.
"You look familiar..." Ashton's father trailed off, squinting his eyes as if trying to remember where he had seen me from. The last time we had met was at the family table that seemed a lifetime ago. I was about to open my mouth to speak when his blue eyes lit up. "Right, Aurora Steele."
I forced a smile on my face. "Yes, sir. How are you?"
Ashton's father's features immediately hardened. "I'm great, thank you. So, I see you and Ashton are...?"
I heard Ashton grunt beside me. "Yes father, we're dating."
Ashton's father cleared his throat and I didn't know whether it was in approval or not, it was hard to tell what these people were thinking with faces as still as stone. I couldn't help but squint my eyes as if determined to figure out what Ashton's father was thinking but before I could decipher anything, he nodded and walked off.
"Seriously, I don't think your parents like me," I confessed, throwing my head back with a groan. If they didn't approve of me then it was their loss anyway. Still, a small part inside of me at least wanted my boyfriend's approval because I knew it'd mean something to Ashton.
Ashton chuckled but I knew it wasn't genuine. "They'll come around."
I doubted that.
a/n: do you think Ashton's parents will come around?
Thank you guys for reading and voting, your support means a lot me, never forget that.
ariella xo